Car-loader.



W. E. HUNT.

CAR LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-26.1%].

1,266,475, Patented May 14, 1918.

' 4 SHEETSSHEET I. K a

W. E. HUNT.

CAR LOADER.

APPLICATIUN FILED JAN.26. 1917.

Patented May 14, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

7. 7 dal/iy x Q W. E. HUNT.

CAR LOADER.

' APPLICATION FILED )AN.26, new.

Patented May 14, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- w. E HUNT.

CAR LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, I917.

1,266A75, Patented May14,1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

ggmem w I l 1 2062257: y imz/i/r' srarns raranr errrcn.

WILLIAM E. HUNT, OF OTTUMWA, IOWA, ASSIG-NOR TO OTTUMWA BOX CAR LOADER(30., OF OTIUMWA, IOWA, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

CAB-LOADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be .it known that 1, WILLIAM E. HUNT,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Patent No. 632,202, grantedto Henry Philtrolled.

lips and myself wherein a main frame laterally movable toward and fromthe car carries at one end an unloading hopper provided with materialdischarging means and mounted for sliding movement in the direc tion ofits length and also for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, the saidhopper operating within the car and in relation to a supply chute.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide a loader of thetype stated which shall be particularly well adapted for use with coalof the smaller sizes or grades or briquets but is also adapted for usewith coal or coke of larger sizes and with various other illittfillELlS;which shall perform its work expeditiously and with a minimumexpenditure of power; and which shall effectively utilize the availablecapacity of the car.

With the above objects in view the invention consists in certainfeatures of structure, combination and relation which will appear as thedescription proceeds.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, where1n:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation and partial longitudinal sectionshowing a carloader in which the features of the invention areincorporated operating within a car.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing thehopper and the material discharging means.

Fig. 4: is a plan view partly in section showing details of certainclutches by which different operations of the unloader are con- Figs. 5,6, 7 and S are detail sectional views on the lines 55, G-6, 7-7 and 8-8,respectively, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a plan and Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the chain which inthe present em bodiment constitutes the material discharging means.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

The main frame, designated generally as 1, is movable laterally towardand from the car A and consists of parallel side bars 2 connected atappropriate intervals by sundry bars and plates, unnecessary to refer toin detail, which are utilized to provide supports and bearings forvarious operating parts. Said main frame is mounted upon a supportingframe, designated generally as 3, which includes corner uprights 4:suitably connected and braced. The uprights .L are provided at theirupper ends with rollers 5 which fit between the outer side flanges ofthe beams 2 to support the main frame from the supporting frame and toguide the main frame in its movements laterally relatively to the car.

The machine may either be mounted on a stationary bed or it may beportable, as conditions may require. Asshown, the supporting frame ismounted upon a wheeled truck B.

In so far as the loader embodies as its principal parts the main frame1, a loading hopper 6 supported at one end of the main frame and amaterial-discharging means cooperating with the hopper and in so far asthe hopper is an elongated, trough-like structure, open at its ends andof curved outline between its ends, and is mounted for sliding movementin the direction of its length and also for pivotal movement about avertical axis, the loader is within the type illustrated in the Phillipsand Hunt Patent No. 632,202, previously mentioned.

The hopper 6 (Figs. 1 and 3) is su ported by and slidable relatively toa cradle which, in turn, is supported by the main frame and mounted forpivotal movement about a vertical axis. As supporting elements for saidhopper the cradle is provided with two pairs of rollers 8 which fit inchanneled guides 9 provided at the sides of the hopper. The cradle 7 isprovided with a discal base 10 which is journaled in a platform 11secured at the outer end of the main frame, the said base and platformhaving their confronting circumferential faces formed to house andprovide raceways for ball bearings 12' (Figs. 1 and 6).

r Accordingto the present invention, the

iently'located on the mainframe.

"inatei'ial discharging means operates continuously as the material issuppliedto the hopper to drag the material from. the point of supplytoward the outer or remote end of the hopper from which it spouts orfalls iiito'the car. The said means, as shown and preferred, comprisesan endless chain 13 (Figs. 1, 3, 9 and 10) provided at suitableintervalswith arms 14 projecting laterally at each side thereof andmovable along the bottom or base of the hopper.

The various instrun'ientalities' of the machine derive their operationsfrom a, main shaft 15 which extends between and lean allel' to. the sidebars 2 of the main frame and is journaled in bearings supported byvarious cross bars extending between said side bars. A reversibleelectric motor16' ispreferably employed foroperating the shaft 15 and ismounted at the inner end of the main frame. Said motor is connected tothe shaft 15 by gearing 17 and its operation is regulated, as to speedand direction, by a controller 18 conven- The chain 13, (Figs. 1, 3 and6) is directly operated by the shaft 15 which drives a sprocket wheel 19over which said chain is trained. Vertical diameter coincident with theaxi'al center of the cradle 7 by which it is carried and is connecteduniversally to the shaft 15.

For the support of the sprocket 19, the'base 10 has a depending armcarrying a lateral journal post 20 upon which a hub extension 21 .of thesprocket is rotatably mounted. The universal connection 22 between thesprocket 19 and the shaft 15 is similar to that shown in Figs. 24 and 25of the -pre viously mentioned Phillips and Hunt Patent,"No. 632,202. Thecradle 7 includes a hollow'standard 23 within which are mounted,insymmetrical co-planar relation to the sprocket '19, a pair of idlersprockets 24. The chain 13 is trained over the sprockets 24 and passesthrough diametrically opposite slots 25 in'the standard 23. Other idlersprockets 26 over which the chain 13 is traineda're mounted at the endsand below the base of the hopper '6 and one ofv the sprockets 26 isprovided with a position adjusting device 27 whereby the tension of thechain 13 may be regulated.

Themeans operated by the shaft 15 for moving the main frame toward andfrom the car (Figs; 1 and 7) includes as its preferably principalelement a chain or cable 28 whose ends are connected to bars or retain'ing' devices 29 and 30 suitably located on the supporting frame 3and as elements co-acting withsaid chain-or cable, an operating wheel 31located near the inner end of the main frame, a'pair of. sheaves 32 and33 supported by the main frame and ar- The sprocket wheel 19 has its ofthe wheel 31 and a single sheave 34 supported by l'i he main frame nearits outer end and located suitably distant from the sheaves 32 and 33.The laps of the chain 28 extend in opposite directions or in crossedrelation fromthe bars 29 and 30 and said c'ha-in, tracing it from thebar 29, is trained over the sheave 32, thence a half turn over the wheel31, thence over the sheave'33. to the sheave '34 and thence to the bar30. It will beobvious that a rotation of the wheel 31 in eitherdirection will cause the chain to be tensioned between the bar 29 andthe sheave 32 or between the bar 30 and the sheave 34 with a consequentmovement, in one direction or the other as the case may be, of the mainframe. Thus, when the chain 28, in consequence of the rotation of thewheel 31, exercises a pull on the sheave 32 in consequence of a reverserotation of the wheel 31 the main frame will'be projected, 2'. 6., movedtoward the car. The wheel 31 is preferably loosely mounted on the shaft15 and has attached thereto a clutch element 35 for cooperation with asecond clutch element 36 slidably keyed on said shaft and movable ineither direction by an operating lever 37.

According to the present invention, the turning movements of the cradle7 and therewith of'the hopperare positively controlled and effected by amechanism which, when idle, holds said cradle in the position to whichit has been moved 'and'which may beoperated to turn said cradle throughany extent necessary or convenient in connection with the operation ofthe loader. The said mechanism preferably comprises'a chain 38.

trained over an operating wheel 39 and'connected at its ends to sheavesegments 40 carried by the cradle 7 at opposite sidesv thereof; Thechain wheel '39 is mounted on an upright shaft 41 driven from the shaft15 by worm gearing 42 whose operation by the shaft 15 is controlled by asuitable clutch. This clutch (Figs. 1 and 4) comprises an element 43carried by the worm of the gearing 42, the said worm being loose on theshaft 15, and a cooperating element 44 slid comprises (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and8) a pinion 46.

operated from the shaft 15 and a rack 47 carried by a' flange of one'ofthe guides 9- and with which said pinion, projecting into 15, upon saidclutch ing movement and a rod 50 connecting the shafts 48 and a9 andarticulated. therewith by knuckle joints51.

The bearings 52 (Fig. a in which the shaft 49 is slidable are carried bya pair of uprights 53 supported by the main frame. The gearing betweenthe: shafts 4:9 and 15 preferably comprises a sprocket 54 mounted on theshaft 19 between the'uprig'hts 53 and through which said shaft isslidable, a sprocket wheel 55'loosely mounted onthe shaft 15 and a chain56 connecting the sprocket wheels 54 and 55. The shaft 49 preferably hasa square or flat sided crosssection in order that it may rotate, yetslide relatively to, the sprocket wheel 54.

For the purpose of controlling the rotation of the sprocket wheel 55 aclutch (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) is provided which comprises an element 57carried by'the s rocket wheel 55 and an element 58 slidab y keyed on theshaft 15 and movable toward and from the element 57 by an operatinglever 59. The element 57 is formed externally. to provide a brake'drumfor cooperation with a suitable brake band 60 connected by levers 61 tothe lever 59 whereby the lever 59 when operated to disengage theclutchelement applies the brake band 60 to the brake drum and vice versa. Inthis way the hopper is held against retrograde movement when the clutchelements are disconnected yet may be freely moved in either direction,according to the direction of rotation of the shaft elements beingengaged. The operative steps in connection with the disposal of thehopper in the car and its withdrawal therefrom are the same as in thepreviously mentioned Phillips and Hunt latent No. 632,202 and,therefore, need not be repeated here. The operations of the mechanismsfor moving the main frame and turning and sliding the hopper will beobvious from the drawings and preceding description.

Within the car the hopper 6 is centered relatively to an overhangingsupply chute with each sliding O and is initially positioned with itsdischarge end in closest proximity to the cradle 7 and pointed towardone end of the car from whichposition it is moved slidably, in step bystep fashion asneed may require, toward the confronting end of the car;and movement its discharge .end, in consequence of the curved outline ofthe hopper, is raised to a higher elevation, reaching its highest,elevation when the hopper is fully 7, thereby piling the material to" adepth projected relatively to the cradle which increases regularly fromthe center to the end of the car. In this way the most effectiveutilization of the load receiving and storing capacity of the car ismade. When the hopper has been fully projected relatively to the cradle7and the loading of one end of the car has been completed, the rotationof the shaft 15 is reversed (by reversin the motor in the presentembodiment; whereby the chain 13 will move in the oppo site direction toeffect the discharge of material from the opposite end of the hopper.The loading of the opposite end of the car commences with the hopper inthe fully pro-- jected position relative to the cradle 7 into which itwas moved during the previous operation, above described, and, as in theprevious operation, the hopper is moved slidably, in step by stepfashion as need may require toward the end of the car which itsdischarge end confronts until it reaches its fully projected positionopposite to that reached in the first operation and which is its initialposition, i. e., the position it had at the commencement of loading. Inshort, the hopper, fully projected, say to the left, is moved as far aspossible toward the right to load the right end of the car from thecenter outward and is then moved toward the left and back to its initialposition to load, in like manner, the left end of the car, the chain 13moving in the same direction as the hopper and, of course, having itsmovement reversed as the movement of the hopper is reversed. Ifnecessary or desirable to facilitate loading, the hopper may be turnedfrom time to time toward either side of the car as the loadingprogresses by operation of the mechanism provided for turning thecradle.

It is to be observed that in loading the car at either end the operationis ommenced at the discharge end of the hopper nearest to the floor and,as stated, as the loading progresses, the hopper is advanced throughshort distances. The hopper is only moved forward, however, when thepile of material which it is forming has reached an elevation somewhatclose to the hopper discharge end. A very important advantage is therebysecured in that the distance through which the material falls from thedischarge end of the hopper is at all times reduced to a minimum, andconsequently, there will be no substantial breakage or reduction of thematerial of the load.

By proceeding in the manner described, the loading operation will begreatly expedited and a marked economy of power effected since thenecessity of frequent reversals of the hopper is eliminated and sincethe loading proceeds continuously with the discharge of material fromthe chute C.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure is of what is nowconsidered a preferred embodiment, but that certain minor changes withinthe legitimate scope ofthe appended claims'may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit or substance of the invention; and, therefore,that no specific descriptionherein contained is intended to impose anyrestriction upon the scope of the claims not inherent in their languageor plain intent. v

I claim as my invention 1. In a car loader of the type set forth, thecombination of an open ended hopper regularly curved from end to endthereof, a support for thehopper, the hopper being slidable in eitherdirection of and substan tially throughout its length relatively to saidsupport and the latter co-acting with the of said shaft and being thesame as the direction of movement of said means, and a clutch forcontrolling the operation of said gearing whereby the hopper may bemoved at will.

2. In a'car loader of the type set forth, the combination-of an openended hopper regularly curved from end to end thereof, a supportfor thehopper, the hopper being slidable in either direction of andsubstantially throughout its length relatively to said support and thelatter co-acting with the hopper whereby to cause the path of itsslidable movement to conform to thecurved outline of the hopper,material engaging and moving means including an endless chain movablethrough thehop'per, a continuously operating reversible shaft fordirectly driving said chain to effect a continuous operation of saidmeans in a direction corresponding to the direction of rotation of saidshaft, gearingv operated by said shaft for effecting lengthwise movementof said hopper in the same direction in which'said chain is moved andincluding a rack bar provided externally of the hopper and extend- 7 ingbetween its ends and a pinion carried-by said support and engaging saidrack bar as a driving element therefor, and a' clutch for controllingthe operation of said gearing -whereby the hopper may be moved at will.

' 3. In a car loader of the type set forth,the combination of a mainframemovable laterally toward and from the car, a loading hopper mountedon one end of said main frame, material discharging means cooperatingwith'said hopper, a chain wheel, a pair LQQQAZE of; sheaves carried bysaid main frame at opposite sidesiof said chain wheel, a single sheavecarried by said main frame at a point remote from saidpair of sheaves, achain trained over said chainwheel and over said sheaves and having anend portion extending from said singlesheave and an opposite end portionextendingfrom oneof said pair of sheaves, fixed devices independentofthe main frame to which said endportionsare respectively connected incrossed relation, a

continuously drivenreversible main shaft carried by and disposedlengthwise ofsaidmain frame and" serving to operate said materialdischarging means, said chain wheel being loosely mountedon said shaft,and means for clutching said chain wheel'to' said shaft for operationthereby. I

4. In a car loader of the type set forth, the combination of a mainframemounted for slidable movement toward and :from the car, anopensended loading hopper slidably mounted atone end of said main frame,a

support for said hopper, said support being mounted on saidmain frame topivotabout a vert cal axis and in its movement effectingpivotal:movement of said hopper, material discharging means including,an endless chain movable lengthwise of said hopper, means for movingsaid hopperslidably at, s direction'of its lengthincludingalongitudinally extensiblesystem of flexible shafting, saidhopper supportingoneof the end elements-of said shafting, a supportmounted on. the mainframe for the, other end element of said shafting, acontinuously operated reversible mafin shaft carried by said main frameand disposed longitudinally 7, thereof for. operating said materialdischarging means, gearing connecting an ele-V ment of said flexibleshafting'and said main shaft to effect longitudinal; movement 'of 5 saidhopper in the same direction in which said material discharging means is{moved and a clutch for controlling the operation of said gearingwhereby the hopper'may be moved at will. I

5. In a car loader of the type set fortlnin combination, a mainframe, anopen-ended hopper, a support for the hopper having. an upright standardand a discal base rotatably mounted at an endof said main frame, thehopper being slidably fitted upon the upper end of the standard formovementiin the direction of its length and having at one side thereof arack whichextends between its ends, a'pinion carried by said supportandengaging said rack, a continuously operable reversible, main shaftdisposed longitudi- ,125 movable through the hopper and'provided Iwithlregularly, arranged material engaging v nally of said main frame,an endless chain arms, as sprocket arranged under said base by-osaidshaft, longitudinally extenv for operating said chain anddirectly drivensible flexible shafting for driving said pinion, gearing for drivingsaid shafting from said main shaft to effect slidable movement of saidhopper in the same direction as said chain, and a clutch for controllingthe operation of said gearing whereby said hopper may be moved at will.

6. In a car loader of the type set forth, in combination, a main frame,an open-ended hopper, a support for the hopper having an uprightstandard and a discal base rotatably mounted at an end of said mainframe, the hopper being slidably fitted upon the upper end of thestandard for. movement in the direction of its length and having at oneside thereof a rack which extends between its ends, a pinion carried bysaid support and engaging said rack, a continuously operable reversiblemain shaft disposed longitudinally of said main frame, an endless chainmovable through the hopper and provided with regularly arranged materialengaging arms, a sprocket arranged under said base for operating saidchain and directly driven by said main shaft, longitudinally extensibleflexible shafting for driving said pinion, gearing for driving saidshafting from said main shaft to effect slidable movement of said hopperin the same direction as said chain, a clutch for controlling theoperation of said gearing whereby said hopper may be moved at will,means connected to said standard for efiecting turning movement of saidsupport, gearing for operating said last-named means from said mainshaft, and a clutch controlling said last-named gearing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM E. HUNT. Witnesses H. N. Woonrono, MARIE RoBIsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

